Handle means for containers



Nov. 19, 1957 P. A. NEUGEBAUER 2,813,742

HANDLE MEANS FOR CONTAINERS Filed Jan. 26, 1956 r W M m M a T A a m WW w I v .N M m QM U w y B \6 ZNIW l0 2 Y H 6 0 w United States PatentD HANDLE MEANS FOR CONTAINERS Paul A. Neugebauer, Metuchen, N. J.

Application January 26, 1956, Serial No. 561,518

3 Claims. (Cl. 294-32) The present invention relates, broadly speaking, to readily attachable and detachable handle means for containers, for example, beer cans and the like, and has reference in particular to a simple and practical device which not only provides a handle but also a holder as well.

Prior art handle-equipped container holders are of many and varied styles and forms. As a general rule, a receiver of one type or another is provided and constitutes the holder and this, in turn, has an upstanding handle or handgrip. Typical examples might be identified as Patent No. 2,116,148, granted to Clinton K. Hawley, and another example is Patent No. 899,290 covering a socalled glass holder granted to John W. Bricker.

An object of the instant invention is to structurally, functionally and otherwise improve upon similarly constructed and performing prior art handle-equipped holders with a view toward providing a construction which aptly and satisfactorily serves the end results desired but which is desirable in that it fulfills manufacturing requirements and economies of manufacturers and the ordinarily expected needs of persons who like to drink beer from a can but prefer a practical handle for holding it.

In carrying out a preferred embodiment of the invention the receiver takes the form of a shallow coaster. This is marginally provided with a lug and the handle means is attached to the lug. There is a spring pressed latch on the handle means and on the inside of the wall of the coaster a keeper is provided, whereby the over-all construction functions as a feasible and satisfactory handle device for beer cans and the like.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a handle-equipped holder for cans, containers and the like, showing in phantom lines, the manner in which it is used;

Figure 2 is a central vertical section on the line 22 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows and with a can appearing in elevation; and

Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the line 33 of Figure 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings with the aid of reference numerals, the coaster comprises a relatively shallow cuplike receiver and is generally denoted by the numeral 4. It is of any suitable lightweight material and has a flat bottom 6 which may be placed firmly on a table or the like when the device is set down periodically during the course of use. There is also an upstanding endless flange or rim 8 and on the interior of this, as shown in Figure 2, there is a boss 10 constituting a detent. This is engageable with the usual bead 12 on the end portion of the can or other container 14. The rim is provided on one side with an outstanding integral lug 16 and it is to this that the handle means 18 is connected.

As construed generally, the handle means is a vertically 2,813,742 Patented Nov. 19, 1957 ice disposed loop or grip, that is, vertical to the horizontal plane of the cup-like coaster. It is preferably formed from a relatively wide, rigid, metal strap having one end portion 20 underlying the lug and the other end portion 22 superimposed atop the lug with the end portions suitably riveted or held in place on the lug as at 24. The intermediate portion of the strap has a vertical reach or limb 26, a similar spaced parallel reach or limb 28 and a suitably shaped connecting or bight portion 30. Thus the strap is simply bent into loop form and the loop is attached to the lug and extends at right angles and provides a suitable handgrip. There is a latch 32 provided and this comprises a metal strip the intermediate portion of which is riveted as at 34 to the limb 28. One end portion is laterally bent as at 36 and provides a stop shoulder. The other end portion is free and flexibly resilient and provides a springy catch as at 38 which extends into the receptacle portion of the coaster and bears against the can and overlies the bead 12 and pushes the can from right to left (Fig. 2) so that the head 12 is engaged and held partly beneath the shoulder-forming boss or detent 10 and partly beneath the catch 38. A small piece or strap of metal 40 is riveted at 42 to the lower end of the latch and is so arranged with its ends extending as at 44 to provide a trip and finger grips therefor. Thus, this trip with finger grips assists in springing the catch 38 from left to right in Figure 2 and thus releasing the spring pressed pressure on the can so that it may be readily disengaged from the detent 10 and removed from the coaster. No special operation is necessary to insert the can. That is to say, the can is simply forced down and seated in the cup portion of the coaster and the edge portion of the can which comes into contact with the spring latch, cams the latch from left to right and the can is quickly seated and held against displacement.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A handling device for beer cans or the like comprising a shallow cup-like coaster for reception of an end portion of the can, said coaster being provided on one side with an outstanding horizontally disposed lug, a vertically elongate loop-like handle attached to and rising from said lug, said coaster having an endless rim and said rim being interiorly provided with a boss constituting a detent which is releasably engageable with the usual bead at one end of said can, a spring pressed latch carried by said handle and having a free flexibly resilient lower end portion depending into said coaster and providing an automatically engageable manually releasable catch, said catch being releasably engageble with said bead and being situated at a place which is approximately diametrically opposite to said detent.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 and wherein a trip is fixed to the lower end portion of said latch just above said catch, said trip being manually actuable and having terminal portions formed into finger-grips, said fingergrips assisting in enabling one to operate the trip and catch.

3. A holder and handling device for a beaded can, a conventional-type beer can for example, comprising a shallow cup-like coaster for reception of the usual beaded base portion of the stated can, said coaster having a bottom and an upstanding endless marginal rim, said rim being provided on its interior vertical portion with a boss 3 Y which overlies the bottom and constitutes a detent, said detent being adapted to overlie a cooperating portion of the adjacent head, a vertically elongated loop-like handle attached to and rising from saidrim opposite to said detent, a resilient latch comprising a metal strip having its intermediate portion fixed to a cooperating portion of said handle, having an upper end portion laterally bent and providing a stop shoulder which is engageable with a side of the can diametrically opposite to that side which is cooperable with said detent, the lower end portion of said latch being free and flexibly resilient and depending into the coaster diametrically opposite to said detent and being sprung in a direction toward said can and away from said rim and having its extreme lower end so situated that it overlies and is releasably engageable with the cooperating portion of the bead on said can, and trip means carried by said latch and located above the free end of said latch and serving to assist in releasing the latch from the can bead.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 899,290 Bricker Sept. 22, 1908 2,116,148 Hawley May 3, 1938 2,580,824 Oliver et a1. Ian. 1, 1952 

